Google, Hawaiian-Style

Of the more than 125 “interface languages” available on Google, Hawaiian is now sandwiched between Hausa and Hebrew. Google is adding more languages that now include everything from Afrikaans to Zulu.

The United Nations considers Hawaiian, which is the only native American language available in the Google in Your Language program, among its “critically endangered” list of languages.

Keola Donaghy, an assistant professor of Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii–Hilo, has been working on keeping the Hawaiian language alive and thriving for nearly 2 decades. The Google language project is an offshoot of his lifelong work that has been several years in the making.

The list of Google languages even includes more exotic languages such as Elmer Fudd, Klingon, and Pirate.

Creating a Total Life List

Peter Drucker, the father of organizational management, is considered to be one of the most influential thinkers of modern times. Drucker, who passed away at the age of 95 in 2005, developed a secret to a fulfilled life. For him, it was important to live in more than one world and enjoy diverse interests, activities, pursuits, and relationships. And for many years, journalist Bruce Rosenstein researched Drucker’s life and work while writing about the legendary management guru from all angles for USA TODAY’s Money section and for other publications.

So it should come as no surprise that Rosenstein has penned a new book called Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker’s Work Can Inspire and Transform Your Life (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009). Rosenstein organized the 144-page book into a compact guide that straddles the Business/Personal Growth categories. The elements in each chapter fit together much like pieces in a puzzle, offering a refreshing perspective into living a full life: Rosenstein’s narrative guides readers through the basic topics, snippets about Drucker’s life and work add reference points, quotes from Drucker convey his passion, and the Ask Yourself sections offer moments of self-reflection.

After so many years of studying Drucker, Rosenstein says that one of the biggest challenges he faced was developing the structure of the book. “It was up to me to articulate a better structure by taking broad categories and making them much more focused,” says Rosenstein. “At the end of the process, we ended up with five chapters … a short book packed with information.”

And what would Drucker think about the book? “I would like to think that he would like it,” says Rosenstein. “He would have appreciated the holistic focus of the book on the individual and the added structure around it,” he says. Chapter discussions range from developing core competencies to volunteerism and mentorship to reinventing yourself to establish second and even third careers, followed by a section devoted to suggested readings.

“This book is a journey,” says Rosenstein. “It represents the best of Drucker’s lessons for the individual.” And Drucker’s own words sum up our collective Total Life List: “The purpose of the work on making the future is not to decide what should be done tomorrow, but what should be done today to have a tomorrow.”